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June 29, 2017

Missional Community

By Daniel Im

What is missional community?

In an individualistic culture, the term missional community is strange and out of the norm. To put others before yourself, to step outside of your comfort zone, to risk the possibility of being rejected for the gospel … it seems like an odd lifestyle. However, that is exactly the kind of life we are called to live. Interestingly, it is when we are living this way that we get to experience the fulfilling and purposeful life we were created to.

In order to be a missional community, we must first understand what it is. In these Ministry Grid training videos, Todd Engstrom defines missional community and explains why it is essential for gospel movement to occur. At his church, The Austin Stone Community Church, their vision is to be a New Testament church existing for the supremacy of the name and purpose of Jesus Christ. Located in Austin, TX, they are presented with the challenge of reaching a fairly resistant city with the gospel of Jesus Christ.

They realized that if they wanted to see their vision in action, something needed to change. So they made it their mission to build a great city renewed and redeemed by the gospel movement. For a movement to occur, he said, every small community needed to declare and demonstrate the gospel to their neighborhoods and networks of relationships in their city. Todd defines a missional community as a community of Christ followers on mission with God in obedience to the Holy Spirit, that demonstrate the gospel tangibly and declare creatively the gospel of Jesus Christ to a specific pocket of people. His definition is intentional and concentrated. He broke it down and elaborated on each portion.

A community of Christians

Through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, God has redeemed people for Himself. He empowers and sends them to be His witnesses. John 20:21 and Matthew 28:16-20 tell us that every person is called to share Christ. We are called and sent to show a hurting, broken, and dying world that Jesus is who He says He is and did what He said He did. God is about bringing glory to His name and establishing His Kingdom.

To read the remainder of the article, and to watch the Ministry Grid training videos, click here.

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Tweetables:

“Through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, God has redeemed people for Himself. He empowers and sends them to be His witnesses.” —@toodus

“We are called and sent to show a hurting, broken, and dying world that Jesus is who He says He is and did what He said He did.” —@toodus

“God is about bringing glory to His name and establishing His Kingdom.” —@toodus

“Communities on mission should set out to be a blessing to the people around them and demonstrate the reality of God’s new Kingdom.” —@toodus

“The promise of missional community is that when we give our life away, we will receive life to the fullest.” —@toodus

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Daniel Im

Daniel Im (@danielsangi) is the Founder of NewChurches.com and the Director of Church Multiplication for LifeWay Christian Resources. He is a Teaching Pastor at The Fellowship, a multisite church in Nashville. He is the author of No Silver Bullets: Five Small Shifts that will Transform Your Ministry, and co-author of Planting Missional Churches: Your Guide to Starting Churches that Multiply (2nd ed) with Ed Stetzer. He also hosts the New Churches Q&A Podcast. He has an M.A. in Global Leadership and has served and pastored in church plants and multisite churches ranging from 100 people to 50,000 people in Vancouver, Ottawa, Montreal, Korea, Edmonton, and Nashville. Visit Danielim.com to learn more.